On June 3, 2020 Portage Biotech Inc. (CSE:PBT.U, OTC Markets: PTGEF) ("Portage" or the "Corporation") reported that, further to its news release dated May 25, 2020, the Corporation’s common shares will commence trading on a one hundred (100) old for one (1) new share consolidated basis (the "Consolidation") (also known as a "reverse split") under a new CUSIP number G7185A128 and ISIN number VGG7185A1286. The corporate name and trading symbol for the Corporation will remain unchanged (Press release, Portage Biotech, JUN 3, 2020, View Source [SID1234560816]). The effective date that the post-consolidated common shares will begin trading on CSE is June 5, 2020.

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The Consolidation proposal was approved by shareholders at the Annual General and Special Meeting of Shareholders of the Corporation held on January 8, 2019, in which the Board of Directors was authorized, in its sole discretion and by means of a resolution, to proceed with the proposed consolidation of the common shares in the capital of the Corporation by a ratio of up to 120-for-1 basis, without further approval of shareholders. On May 19, 2020, the Board of Directors set the Consolidation ratio at 100-for-1.

There are currently 1,098,770,697 common shares issued and outstanding. Upon completion of the Consolidation, there will be approximately 10,987,707 common shares issued and outstanding. The exact number of post-consolidated shares will vary depending on the treatment of fractional shares, which will occur when each shareholder’s holdings in the Corporation are consolidated. The Corporation will not issue any fractional common shares as a result of the consolidation. Instead, all fractional shares will be rounded down to the nearest whole common share unless a shareholder will hold less than one share in which case the fractional share will be rounded up. Outstanding stock options will also be adjusted by the Consolidation ratio and their respective exercise prices adjusted accordingly.

On the effective date of Consolidation, registered shareholders may surrender their physical share certificates evidencing their common shares to the Corporation’s transfer agent, TSX Trust Company ("TSX Trust"), at 301-100 Adelaide Street West, Toronto, Ontario, M5H 4H1, for replacement certificates representing the number of post-consolidation shares to which they are entitled. All inquiries regarding the Consolidation or your shareholder account should be directed to TSX Trust at tel.: 1-866-600-5859 or by email to: [email protected]. No Letter of Transmittal needs to be executed in relation to the Consolidation. Until surrendered, each certificate representing the pre-Consolidation common shares will be deemed for all purposes to represent the number of shares to which the holder thereof is entitled as a result of the Consolidation. Shareholders who hold their shares in brokerage accounts or "street name" are not required to take any action to effect the exchange of their shares.

On June 3, 2020 AlivaMab Discovery Services, LLC, a leader in comprehensive, integrated solutions for antibody drug discovery, reported a discovery partnership with Tanabe Research Laboratories USA, Inc. (TRL, San Diego, California), an independent subsidiary of Japan-based Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma Corporation. ADS will provide its expertise and capabilities to generate and deliver therapeutic antibody candidates to TRL using the AlivaMab Mouse, a best-in-class antibody discovery platform (Press release, AlivaMab Discovery Services, JUN 3, 2020, View Source [SID1234560815]).

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"The proven expertise of ADS combined with the speed and efficiency with which AlivaMab Mouse can produce drug-quality antibodies is foundational for this collaboration" said John "Lippy" Lippincott, PhD, Vice-President of Research. "ADS has developed a track record of successfully delivering antibody drug candidates against challenging projects in a greater number and in shorter timelines than other organizations. We are pleased that TRL has entrusted ADS as a partner in using precision science to create breakthrough biological therapies."

On June 3, 2020 Epigenetics company Base Genomics reported that it has launched with a team of leading scientists and clinicians to set a new gold standard in DNA methylation detection (Press release, Base Genomics, JUN 3, 2020, View Source [SID1234560814]). The company has closed an oversubscribed seed funding round of $11 million USD (£9 million GBP) to progress development of its TAPS technology, initially focusing on developing a blood test for early-stage cancer and minimal residual disease. The funding round was led by Oxford Sciences Innovation and also included investors with industry expertise in genomics and oncology.

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DNA methylation is an epigenetic mechanism involved in gene regulation and has been shown to be one of the most promising biomarkers for detecting cancer through liquid biopsy. The existing industry standard for mapping DNA methylation degrades DNA and reduces sequence complexity, however, limiting scientific discovery and clinical sensitivity. Base Genomics’ new technology, TAPS, overcomes these issues and generates significantly more information from a given sample, creating new opportunities in research and the clinic.

"In order to realize the potential of liquid biopsies for clinically meaningful diagnosis and monitoring, sensitive detection and precise quantification of circulating tumour DNA is paramount," said Base Genomics CMO Anna Schuh. "Current approaches are not fit for purpose to achieve this, but Base Genomics has developed a game-changing technology which has the potential to make the sensitivity of liquid biopsies a problem of the past."

First developed at Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research Branch at the University of Oxford, TAPS is a novel chemical reaction that converts methylated cytosine to thymine under mild conditions. Unlike the industry standard technology, bisulfite sequencing, TAPS does not degrade DNA, meaning that significantly more DNA is available for sequencing. TAPS also better retains sequence complexity, cutting sequencing costs in half and enabling simultaneous epigenetic and genetic analysis.

"Genomic technologies with the power, simplicity and broad applicability of TAPS come along very infrequently," said Base Genomics CTO Vincent Smith. "It has the potential to have an impact on epigenetics similar to that which Illumina’s SBS chemistry had on Next Generation Sequencing."

Base Genomics is led by a highly experienced team of scientists and clinicians, including Dr Vincent Smith, a world-leader in genomic product development and former Illumina VP; Dr Anna Schuh, Head of Molecular Diagnostics at the University of Oxford and Principal Investigator on over 30 clinical trials; Drs Chunxiao Song and Yibin Liu, co-inventors of TAPS at the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, Oxford; and Oliver Waterhouse, previously an Entrepreneur in Residence at Oxford Sciences Innovation and founding team member at Zinc VC.

"The ability to sequence a large amount of high-quality epigenetic information from a simple blood test could unlock a new era of preventative medicine," said Base Genomics founder and CEO Oliver Waterhouse. "In the future, individuals will not just be sequenced once to determine their largely static genetic code, but will be sequenced repeatedly over time to track dynamic epigenetic changes caused by age, lifestyle, and disease."

On June 3, 2020 Q2 Solutions, a leading clinical trial laboratory services organization resulting from an IQVIA and Quest Diagnostics joint venture, reported its partnership with Thermo Fisher Scientific to use the Ion Torrent Genexus System, the first fully integrated, next-generation sequencing (NGS) platform, to deliver clinical trial lab results economically with unprecedented speed (Press release, Q2 Solutions, JUN 3, 2020, View Source [SID1234560813]).

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"Clinical trial oncology patients require lab testing before they can receive potential life-saving treatments, which makes lab testing turnaround time critical," said Brian O’Dwyer, chief executive officer at Q2 Solutions. "Our efforts in developing assays and tests to identify and target different aspects of diseases are critical to drug discovery for pharma clients. Adding the capabilities of the Ion Torrent Genexus System has the potential to drastically reduce our time to deliver clinical reports to trial sites, thereby enabling patients’ access to investigational drugs faster."

The Ion Torrent Genexus System improves turnaround time and minimizes human error for genome profiling, resulting in better delivery of services and further differentiating the Q2 Solutions service offering. With 70 percent of oncology drugs in development relying on genome profiling to uncover specific disease-causing mutations, this significant advancement in genomic technologies may help get the right therapy gets to the right patient quickly.

"Access to the latest technology to help meet the stringent demands from pharmaceutical clients has become essential in the age of genomic-driven medicine," said Peter Silvester, senior vice president and president of Life Sciences Solutions at Thermo Fisher Scientific. "We are proud of this strategic relationship with Q2 Solutions and the opportunity it provides for Thermo Fisher to move healthcare forward."

Genomic profiling is a laboratory method that is used to learn about the genes in a person or in a specific cell type and the way those genes interact with each other and with the environment. Genomic profiling is done in a privacy-protective manner and may be used to discover why some patients are diagnosed with certain diseases while others are not, or why patients react in different ways to the same drug. It may also be used to help develop new ways to diagnose, treat, and prevent diseases, such as cancer.

Q2 Solutions is committed to implementing transformational technology that has the potential to revolutionize how complex diseases are managed. In November 2019, Q2 Solutions announced a national U.S. expansion of its Genomics Center of Excellence in North Carolina to enhance its ability to provide innovative genomic testing in North America and to further enable harmonized genomic testing globally.

Q2 Solutions is further committed to protecting individual patient privacy. The company uses a wide variety of privacy-enhancing technologies and safeguards to protect individual privacy while generating and analyzing information on a scale that helps healthcare stakeholders identify disease patterns and correlate with the precise treatment path and therapy needed for better outcomes.

On June 3, 2020 NorthShore University HealthSystem (NorthShore) neurosurgeon, Julian Bailes, MD, reported that it is the first in Illinois to begin offering GammaTile Therapy, a new approach to treating malignant brain tumors (Press release, GT Medical Technologies, JUN 3, 2020, View Source [SID1234560812]). The FDA-cleared, Surgically Targeted Radiation Therapy (STaRT) is designed to delay tumor regrowth for patients with high grade gliomas, meningiomas and brain metastases. The FDA most recently approved GammaTile for the initial surgery and treatment of glioblastoma multiforme — the most common malignant tumor. The first patient in the state was treated by Dr. Bailes, who is chairman of the department of neurosurgery and co-director of the NorthShore Neurological Institute. Neuro-oncologist Ryan Merrell, MD, will also be participating in this new surgical therapy at NorthShore.

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Aggressive brain tumors tend to be resistant to current treatments and have a high likelihood of recurrence. Smaller than a postage stamp (2cm x 2cm), the GammaTile is a 3D-collagen tile embedded with Cesium-131 radiation that can be placed at the tumor site after the tumor is surgically removed. It immediately begins to target any microscopic residual tumor with radiation while limiting the impact on healthy brain tissue. It adds just five to ten minutes to surgery time and is absorbed in the body within two months.

"We are excited to offer this new treatment that protects healthy brain tissue while providing immediate, targeted therapy directly to the area that’s most at risk for recurrence," said Dr. Bailes. "Most patients report fewer side effects and better quality of life since this eliminates the wait time and procedures typically associated with standard treatment after the removal of a tumor."

GammaTile Therapy is a radiation therapy specifically designed for implantation in the brain and offers advantages for patients undergoing surgery for brain tumors. GammaTile begins targeting residual tumor cells immediately at the time of tumor removal surgery, rather than waiting several weeks for surgical wound healing before beginning other treatment. GammaTile protects healthy brain tissue while delivering a targeted dose to any remaining tumor cells. The unique design also limits side effects typically associated with radiation therapy, including hair loss. These patients receive their course of internal, focused radiation while going about their daily lives, requiring no additional trips to the hospital or clinic for radiation therapy.

A male patient in his thirties was the first patient in Illinois to receive this treatment. He had brain surgery and standard chemotherapy and radiation last spring. Dr. Bailes says GammaTile therapy shows great promise for prolonging survival and improving quality of life for this patient and others.

Research has shown that patients who received surgery plus GammaTile Therapy had approximately two times improvement in median time to tumor recurrence. Data supporting the efficacy and safety profile of the therapy for patients with recurrent, previously treated meningioma’s was published in the Journal of Neurosurgery (JNS), the official journal of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons.

"We are honored to be working with the brain tumor specialists at NorthShore to deploy GammaTile Therapy for the purpose of improving the lives of patients with brain tumors," said Matt Likens, president and CEO of GT MedTech. "We are excited to begin expanding the availability of GammaTile Therapy to other leading brain tumor treatment centers across the U.S."